Today I decided it was time to begin exploring the rest of the island. I mapped out a route (the visitor’s authority has a wonderful map of Tinian, with all the points of interest) that would take me around the west side of the village. I was a little worried about the weather, as yesterday (an Island Holiday) it had rained most of the day—as it has most of the last week or so—but I hoped I would get the chance to walk this morning. I climbed the ‘hill’, as usual, then turned west at the first major road.
I had prepared for a long walk this morning, taking a back-pack, water, and misc. stuff. But I was to be disappointed. As I stood at the top of the first major rise, the wind picked up, and I noticed threatening clouds moving in quite quickly. It was sunny to the north, rain clouds to the south, and a mix to the east. I tried to determine which way the clouds were moving, but to no avail. It seems as though there is no regular movement of weather on Tinian!
When I lived in Utah, weather always came west to east. It was easy to tell when a weather front was coming in—just look west for clouds. In fact, one of my favorite memories as a child living in Utah was lying in the backyard with my brother as a major storm moved across the valley. There was a very distinct line of black clouds, rain and lightning that was moving directly east towards our home. As we lay on our backs, watching this dark black cloud formation move towards us, we could hear the thunder booming across the valley, and soon we could see the flashes of lightning. We stayed there, lying on our backs, until the weather front had reached us and rain began to soak our clothing. The dramatic march of the dark clouds across the sky is a strange and vivid memory for me.
But not in the Marianas! Weather just seems to swirl around us here, coming from almost every direction possible. Standing on top of the hill, I could see clouds moving west, clouds moving south, and some clouds not moving at all! We had noticed that sometimes typhoons generate right over top of us, just swirling around until they form a shape and move off towards china or japan.
So today I had a choice to make. Do I go on, and risk getting wet? Or do I turn back and head for my apartment? Considering the fact that lately both Terri and I have been soaked head to foot when caught in the rain, I decided to head back. It was disappointing. I had looked forward to the walk, and to seeing some new sights. It got me to thinking…
What do we do with disappointments? Life is full of them. No matter how much we plan, no matter how hard we work, no matter how much money and resources we have at our disposal, life has a way of defeating us. It is such a common event that we have well adages and sayings for these events: Murphy’s Law (originally know as Finagle’s Law of Dynamic Negatives): if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way; FUBAR (for those in the military); and a similar saying, the Peter Principle: people rise to the level of their incompetency (the harder you try to improve, the more responsibility you will be given, until you get to the point where you have reached your personal limit—and fail miserably).
The fact that these terms are so well known and used just seems to confirm the hopelessness of life: that in the end everyone fails. There is no hope, because in the end moths and rust destroy, thieves break through and steal, and everyone dies.
But to every coin there is another side. Just as for generations adages have been passed down about life’s trials and hopelessness, others have passed on sayings of hope and a positive attitude towards life: behind every cloud there is a silver lining; it is always darkest before the dawn; the light at the end of the tunnel; etc. Remember the last words at the end of Gone With the Wind? “Tomorrow is another day!” Or the song that can and will drive most people mad if they hear it one more time: “The sun will come out tomorrow” from Annie. All of these recognize that in spite of the negative things that happen to us, there is always a brighter future. There is always another day. Hope does spring eternal!
My motto this morning was ‘Carpe Diem’ (seize the day!). After the weather crushed my hopes and dreams for a walk, I looked for the silver lining behind the clouds, and decided that tomorrow was another day…
Which simply brings us to another maxim that has been learned over time: good things come to those that wait. Patience is a virtue because those who truly have the patience to wait for things tend to see life’s ‘Big Picture’ better than others. While some give up hope and stop trying after one, or even a few failures, those who understand life better have the patience to wait for another—and perhaps better—opportunity to arrive. People only fail because they give up. It is always those that have patience, and never give up, that succeed in life. It is not the falling down that makes a statement about our lives (everyone falls down), it is the getting back up that shows our true character.
So I will be patient, knowing that tomorrow is another day, and that perhaps it will be an even better day to accomplish my desire to see more of the beautiful island of Tinian! As for today…it started raining about a block before I arrived home, and I was happy I had decided to postpone my tour of the island to another day.
I had prepared for a long walk this morning, taking a back-pack, water, and misc. stuff. But I was to be disappointed. As I stood at the top of the first major rise, the wind picked up, and I noticed threatening clouds moving in quite quickly. It was sunny to the north, rain clouds to the south, and a mix to the east. I tried to determine which way the clouds were moving, but to no avail. It seems as though there is no regular movement of weather on Tinian!
When I lived in Utah, weather always came west to east. It was easy to tell when a weather front was coming in—just look west for clouds. In fact, one of my favorite memories as a child living in Utah was lying in the backyard with my brother as a major storm moved across the valley. There was a very distinct line of black clouds, rain and lightning that was moving directly east towards our home. As we lay on our backs, watching this dark black cloud formation move towards us, we could hear the thunder booming across the valley, and soon we could see the flashes of lightning. We stayed there, lying on our backs, until the weather front had reached us and rain began to soak our clothing. The dramatic march of the dark clouds across the sky is a strange and vivid memory for me.
But not in the Marianas! Weather just seems to swirl around us here, coming from almost every direction possible. Standing on top of the hill, I could see clouds moving west, clouds moving south, and some clouds not moving at all! We had noticed that sometimes typhoons generate right over top of us, just swirling around until they form a shape and move off towards china or japan.
So today I had a choice to make. Do I go on, and risk getting wet? Or do I turn back and head for my apartment? Considering the fact that lately both Terri and I have been soaked head to foot when caught in the rain, I decided to head back. It was disappointing. I had looked forward to the walk, and to seeing some new sights. It got me to thinking…
What do we do with disappointments? Life is full of them. No matter how much we plan, no matter how hard we work, no matter how much money and resources we have at our disposal, life has a way of defeating us. It is such a common event that we have well adages and sayings for these events: Murphy’s Law (originally know as Finagle’s Law of Dynamic Negatives): if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way; FUBAR (for those in the military); and a similar saying, the Peter Principle: people rise to the level of their incompetency (the harder you try to improve, the more responsibility you will be given, until you get to the point where you have reached your personal limit—and fail miserably).
The fact that these terms are so well known and used just seems to confirm the hopelessness of life: that in the end everyone fails. There is no hope, because in the end moths and rust destroy, thieves break through and steal, and everyone dies.
But to every coin there is another side. Just as for generations adages have been passed down about life’s trials and hopelessness, others have passed on sayings of hope and a positive attitude towards life: behind every cloud there is a silver lining; it is always darkest before the dawn; the light at the end of the tunnel; etc. Remember the last words at the end of Gone With the Wind? “Tomorrow is another day!” Or the song that can and will drive most people mad if they hear it one more time: “The sun will come out tomorrow” from Annie. All of these recognize that in spite of the negative things that happen to us, there is always a brighter future. There is always another day. Hope does spring eternal!
My motto this morning was ‘Carpe Diem’ (seize the day!). After the weather crushed my hopes and dreams for a walk, I looked for the silver lining behind the clouds, and decided that tomorrow was another day…
Which simply brings us to another maxim that has been learned over time: good things come to those that wait. Patience is a virtue because those who truly have the patience to wait for things tend to see life’s ‘Big Picture’ better than others. While some give up hope and stop trying after one, or even a few failures, those who understand life better have the patience to wait for another—and perhaps better—opportunity to arrive. People only fail because they give up. It is always those that have patience, and never give up, that succeed in life. It is not the falling down that makes a statement about our lives (everyone falls down), it is the getting back up that shows our true character.
So I will be patient, knowing that tomorrow is another day, and that perhaps it will be an even better day to accomplish my desire to see more of the beautiful island of Tinian! As for today…it started raining about a block before I arrived home, and I was happy I had decided to postpone my tour of the island to another day.
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